It goes without saying that I encounter quite a few Republicans with big opinions usually based on little or no facts. In fact, the majority of the time I walk away honestly wondering what reality must be like in their minds, because it sure doesn’t seem to correspond with what I witness in my day to day life.

“Today, doesn’t it seem like we have a Corrupt Bastards Club in D.C.? On steroids?”

Which, if she were referring to those Republicans in Congress who purposely shut down the government knowing their goals weren’t obtainable, she’d actually be right. But of course she wasn’t.

I really believe the recent shutdown is a perfect example of total right-wing delusion. Even with large sections of Republicans fiercely opposed to the idea that a government shutdown was a feasible plan against “Obamacare,” many Republicans still believed it was a solid plan that would work.

Even with polls overwhelmingly showing that most Americans did not support shutting down the government to try to defund “Obamacare”—still, quite a few Republicans believed they were “listening to the American people” by pushing to defund “Obamacare” and shutting down the government.

Then with more polls showing Americans blaming Republicans, not President Obama or Democrats, for the shutdown, many of those same Republicans still insisted that their plan was solid and they were “listening to the American people.”

Senators like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee who Palin praised, saying they had the only “credible plan of action.”

Palin also went on to put her total ignorance about what the Affordable Care Act is on full display by saying:

“There was no other credible alternative plan to seize the constitutionally appropriate opportunity to legislatively close the purse strings to stop the juggernaut of full socialized medicine.”

First, for the 35,857th time, the Affordable Care Act is not socialized medicine. If it were, it would actually be a heck of a lot better. It’s insurance reform. Palin is an absolute fool.

Second, how in the heck was shutting down the government a “credible plan?” Every Democrat, and even many Republicans, said shutting down the government was foolish and had no chance at obtaining the tea party’s goal of defunding, delaying or repealing “Obamacare.”

The definition of the word “credible” includes the words tenable, plausible, likely, probable—you get the picture.

Shutting down the government to defund, delay or repeal “Obamacare” was in no way tenable, plausible, likely or probable. So when Sarah Palin says Cruz had a “credible” plan, she only goes on to prove that she has absolutely no idea what the word “credible” means.

Then again, she doesn’t seem to know the definitions of quite a few words.

But if you want to talk about “corrupt bastards” let’s talk about individuals like Ted Cruz. He’s been blatantly building his entire platform in Congress as a direct pandering to tea party politics, to the point that he should be referred to as “United States Senator Ted Cruz, brought to you by the Koch brothers.” Everything he’s doing in the Senate is a purposeful effort to pander to the far-right reaches of the GOP in hopes of being the Republican nominee for president in 2016.

That’s why most of what he says isn’t true, feasible or realistic—it doesn’t have to be. The far-right aspects of the Republican party don’t care about facts or reality. They only thing that matters is that someone tells them what they want to hear. Which is exactly what Ted Cruz does. He makes one outlandish statement after another — statements that are almost always completely fictional — all to pander to the tea party voters and boost his standing with them.

That’s it.

But then again, that’s what Sarah Palin does. Because to her, Cruz and these other delusional tea party Republicans, the “shut down the government” plan to oppose “Obamacare” was credible.

Even though facts, reality, our process of government and the vast majority of Americans knew it wasn’t.

And now that the shutdown completely failed, because reality told us that it would, they’re now blaming everyone else for that failure. When the fact of the matter is, they failed because they continue to ignore reality and embrace idiocy.

Allen Clifton is a native Texan who now lives in the Austin area. He has a degree in Political Science from Sam Houston State University. Allen is a co-founder of Forward Progressives and creator of the popular Right Off A Cliff column and Facebook page. Be sure to follow Allen on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to his channel on YouTube as well.